Down Syndrome and Motor Skill Acquisition 57 57 Brian Maraj is with the Perceptual Motor Behavior Laboratory, Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, E-436 Van Vliet Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta Canada T6G 2H9. E-mail: bmaraj@ualberta.ca. Li Li, Rebecca Hillman, and Jennifer Jeansonne are with the Department of Kinesiology at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA. Shannon (Robertson) Ringenbach is with the Motor Development Laboratory at Arizona State University, Tempe. Verbal and Visual Instruction in Motor Skill Acquisition for Persons With and Without Down Syndrome Brian K.V. Maraj University of Alberta Li Li, Rebecca Hillman, and Jennifer J. Jeansonne Louisiana State University Shannon D. (Robertson) Ringenbach Arizona State University This study examined motor learning in persons with Down syndrome (DS), persons with undifferentiated developmental disabilities (UnDD), and persons without disabilities (ND). Participants were instructed (either by verbal in- struction or visual demonstration) to move a cursor to three items displayed on a computer screen. Results indicated that the ND group had superior per- formances to the other two groups for both instruction conditions. Partici- pants with DS performed the task with both longer response and movement times when instructed verbally. In a transfer condition, results revealed the UnDD group displayed poor transfer, while participants with DS showed posi- tive transfer from visual to verbal protocols. These results provide some evi- dence that persons with DS may be able to consolidate visual information to facilitate verbal-motor learning. Clinicians, teachers, instructors, parents, and coaches often use various modes of instruction when guiding individuals in the acquisition of various motor skills. Typically, modes of verbal instruction and visual demonstration are integrated in the learning environment to facilitate skill acquisition. However, the efficacy of instructional modes in guiding persons with disabilities is an ongoing area of con- cern for many researchers and educators (e.g., Butler, 1998; Stone, 1998). While ADAPTED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY QUARTERLY, 2002, 19, 57-10 © 2002 Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc. ADAPTED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY QUARTERLY, 2003, 20, 57-69 © 2003 Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc.